Life, 1889-10-24 · page 12 of 18
Life — October 24, 1889 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This page contains two satirical pieces mocking amateur theatrical performances: **Main cartoon**: "A Midsummer Night's Tempest" is a parody epilogue to *Hamlet* where the ghost of Hamlet complains about a terrible amateur production he witnessed. The joke targets incompetent amateur actors—specifically a "spindle-shanked, low-browed and cock-eyed / Clerk to an attorney" attempting to play Hamlet while wearing an eye-glass. The satire ridicules how amateur performers butcher Shakespeare, with the ghost of Laertes describing an actress playing Ophelia as "lisping, smirking" and "graceful as a bean-pole." **Top illustration** (unlabeled): Shows what appears to be a woman in elaborate dress confronting children, captioned "Where Police Interference Would Be Justifiable"—likely mocking overzealous amateur performances or theatrical pomposity. **Bottom illustration**: A separate scene in a country store, unrelated to the theatrical satire above. The core joke: amateur theater is so bad that even the dead complain about it, and audiences should stay away.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
That some of nature's journeymen had made a man And not made him well, he imitated nature So abominably. Ha! the fair Ophelia! (Enter Shade of Ophelia.) Yes, my lord, thine own Ophelia Come back to earth with heaviness o° grief Thy madness ne'er begot, for I have seen The efforts of a lisping, smirking maid, As graceful as a bean-pole, and as lean, Attempt to paint the sorrow of my heart, O, I would get me to a nunnery. Let me Ophelyour pulse. Mad — quite mad —and all because A creature whom these mortals call a Miss, Quite properly, as her efforts are amiss, Would fain portray thee. Soft you now! O, fair Ophelia. Nymph in thy orisons Be all her sins remembered. Why let the stricken deer go weep, ‘The untrained amateur play ? All those that watch must surely weep, So wise men stay away. (Flickering blue lights and curtain, Tom Hall. WHERE POLICE INTERFERENCE WOULD BE JUSTIFIABLE. Rude Boy: V Sav, DAISY, 18 THAT FOR YOUR LALA? A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S TEMPEST. AN EPILOGUE TO HAMLET, PERFORMED BY AMATEURS. CENE: Elsinore—a platform before the castle (on an improvised stage.) Inky darkness. Shade of Hamlet (solus). Shade of Hamlet : O, did you see him, did you see the knave, The spindle-shanked, low-browed and cock-eyed Clerk to an attorney, play at Hamlet, Dream-souled Hamlet, wearing an eye-glass? O, it was horrible. (Enter Shade of Laertes,) Shade of Laertes : What's the matter with Hamlet? S.of H.: He's not all right. No, by the fame of Shakespeare he’s all wrong. A certain convocation of talented ama Are e’en at him, } Your amateur is your only emperor for talent; Novy ait N\ Se There's not a gents in the universe ay? SS Roos Who will essay as much. Or, who will imitate nature so abominably. Your head is level, Ham., and | — even I, agus? L-ertes, suffered at the hands of one Country Storekeeper (astounded): Hi, Jimmy, RUN DOWN TO Whose fiery hair, parted in the middle TW Indicator OFFICE AN’ TELL THEM MisTER WANDERDILT 18'S Like a cranberry pie, caused me to believe TOWN. Stranger: HAVEN'T YOU ANYTHING BETTER THAN FIVE CENT comicbooks.com